Blacks shouldn’t be allowed to marry. It’s unnatural.

If we’re forced to attend a military function and Hispanics are there, we’ll be uncomfortable, and we’ll leave. Even if it means an adverse fitness report. We shouldn’t have to see Hispanics holding hands. That’s disgusting.

Our contest will no longer accept romances about Jews.

These are abhorrent, yet I’ve heard all of these pointed at the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer crowd. How is it we gasp in shock at one of the above statements, but it’s okay when we say homosexuals shouldn’t be allowed to marry, or that being in the presence of a gay couple is cause to disobey an order, or that books with gay characters are no longer accepted in a contest?

I tweeted my discontent about this issue on Friday, and I was pleased to see that RWA National is actually manning its social networking posts, and they do engage with and respond to their members. I received a personal e-mail from Erin Fry, and she provided Executive Director Allison Kelley’s statement regarding Romance Writers, Ink’s decision to ban same-sex romances. Awesome! Kudos to RWA for being so on the ball and for using social networking the absolute right way.

But then, boo hiss to RWA and Allison Kelley’s response:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address this situation. Whenever I receive a complaint, I know that a member’s expectations have not been met. Failing to meet member expectations is regrettable; however, it is very difficult in an organization with such a large and diverse membership as RWA’s to meet every member’s needs and expectations in all situations.

Several posts have quoted RWA’s definition of romance, but I wish to point out that RWA does not have an official definition of “romance.”  Instead, RWA acknowledges that romance fiction includes two basic elements—a central love story and an emotionally-satisfying and optimistic ending. The determination of whether or not a book meets this criterion is left to individual readers.

Chapter licensing agreements do not dictate the rules for chapter contests, and the idea that RWA can or should police contests run by its 145 chapters is fraught with complications. Following the suggestion logically, how far should RWA go with regulating chapter contests? Should RWA require chapters to only allow entries that would qualify for the RITA competition? If so, that would rule out contests that are open to books that are self published and/or books published by many small presses. Viewing the situation from another perspective, if the Rainbow chapter wished to hold a contest for the best LGBT books, should RWA say that’s not allowed? Personally, I don’t think so. Each chapter is separately incorporated and governed by volunteer leaders who are expected to make decisions in the best interests of the organization they serve. Each chapter is therefore allowed to offer programs and services that reflect the special interests and sensibilities of its members.

 At the national level, RWA’s membership (more than 10,000 members and 145 chapters) is served by a staff of 10, and RWA is fortunate to have a large pool of judges for the RITA and Golden Heart contests. I understand the concerns about RWA Ink’s contest, but I also understand the challenges of recruiting judges and contest coordinators, who are, in fact, volunteers. Compelling volunteers to judge books they are not comfortable reading will not produce fair and unbiased results, and chapters that are fully staffed by volunteers may not have the resources to identify and recruit enough judges willing to judge everything the romance genre encompasses.

 Respectfully,
Allison Kelley, CAE
Executive Director
allison.kelley@rwa.org

Should National be responsible for regulating chapter contests? No. But when one blatantly discriminates against a minority and National doesn’t respond appropriately, it conveys a very blatant message: RWA condones discrimination.

As for finding judges willing to read same-sex entries, I can understand. A very little. You’re going to have small-minded judges who can’t handle judging a story on its merits just because the characters aren’t the right color, religion, or sex. But you have a larger pool than just your chapter when it comes to pulling judges. How often have we seen calls go out to other chapters to request volunteer judges? If I saw a call requesting a judge for some m/m or f/f or ?/? romance, I’d be very willing to step in and take a couple. No problem. Why? First, I love reading romance that is atypical and offers a fresh perspective, flips tropes on their heads, and shows me how much more room there is to explore the genre. Second, there is not enough f/f romance in the world, and I’m dying to find some. I’d totally be a sneaky bastard, judge a contest, and request something from the coordinator if I found a beauty. Third, I know there are small-minded judges who will likely assume every same-sex romance is going to have icky (ORAL SECKS! HAND JOBZ! BUTTLOVE! MISSIONARY BUTTLOVE! OMG IN THE ARMPITZ!) sex scenes, even if the contest only judges the first chapter. I’m willing to balance out the assholes until we breed them out of our society.

I like Courtney Milan’s suggestion. I like it a lot. Don’t submit your m/f romance to RWI’s contest. Don’t judge the contest. Ask the final judges not to judge the contest. Speak with dollars and with support…or lack thereof. Show RWI how we feel about contests that discriminate.

And in the meantime, balance out the assholes everywhere until we can breed them out.

Also, if you write f/f romance, I want. Send. Send now. I accept submissions at kerri-leigh at entangled publishing dot com, and I’m particularly interested in novellas from 10k-40k.

Social networking is meant to network us…socially. You can do what you like with your blog, your tweet feed, your online presence in general. But how you put yourself out there will affect your relationship with readers.

I’ll say it again: Relationship. Social networking builds relationships between people. That’s the primary reason folks use Facebook – to connect. And the masses are often very annoyed when all they see in a feed is pimping. They unfollow, unfriend, unlike, unhook. They disconnect.

The best way for you to sell your books is not to tell us all about them every time you have a second and 140 characters to spare. That’s not why we’re watching you. We want to connect with you. Even if you’re only comfortable telling us about your writing journey, your perspectives during the editing cycle, your dread at the insane blog tour schedule your publicist has given you, that’s preferable to an endless reminder that you’re trying to sell your book. Even better, if you can share some details of your life — under the guise of your author persona — we will connect with you. Interact with us, respond to us in these public forums, and you might have a fan for life.

Authors who only log on to Facebook or Twitter or Bigtime Authors Discussion Board or Awesomesauce Word Divas Group Blog to tell the world about the release date or links to their next book will lose their online audience. Poof! Gone. And then all that work they’ve put into building a community is lost.

Don’t be that author. Build your community. Build your tribe. Invite us in. Offer us a place to connect.

That’s how you sell books. That’s how you build your audience.

I’ve been writing since I was wee, so when I first pursued publication *mumble* years ago, nobody in my family was surprised. I love everything about writing, from the act itself, the process encasing it, other writers’ processes, teaching it, reading about it, flirting with different methods, etc. I never suspected I’d enjoy being in the editor’s seat quite as much as I do, though. I’m now part of someone else’s process, and it’s pretty cool.

But it’s still not mine. I’m taking someone else’s work and helping that artist to flesh it into something even better and more marketable. I’m hopefully making the stories more compelling, the characters more realistic, the conflicts more intense, but I’m only doing so by direction. The stories aren’t mine, and though I have a huge personal investment in each story, I don’t feel the satisfaction of having carved a piece of myself into something amazing that I can share with the world.

So though I don’t have a lot of time these days, I am still writing. I still want to publish with a reputable company that stands behind its releases. And this creates a conflict.

I love the publisher I work for. I think it’s the best business model around, and every time I talk to the senior editors or bigwigs, I’m reminded that–though we are a business, and our business is producing NY-quality books for shelves and e-readers–the authors come first. They get the biggest chunk of money as part of their royalties, and because of our reputation and the quality of our books, they also get some pretty amazing foreign rights sales. Our contracts are, we’ve been told, the fairest in the land. Every author is assigned a publicist who has a stake in the success of that title, and our authors get feedback and advice on their websites, their social media presence, and other publicity methods. In a word, the publisher I work for is the best in the industry.

And it’s where I’d publish…if I didn’t work there already.

For years, publishers that also publish their editors’ work have given me pause. I don’t assume the worst, but I do question what’s going on. Don’t judge–I remember when e-publishing and then digital-first publishers started because authors didn’t think they and their friends wouldn’t publish in New York because of [insert an excuse: unagented, NY doesn't take chances on new authors, NY doesn't take chances on historicals set anywhere but Britain or perhaps America, NY doesn't like dark/edgy stories, NY doesn't like comedy, NY is too busy dumping millions of dollars on their bestsellers, etc.]. I don’t think this is as much of an issue these days, especially considering the advent of easy and affordable self-publishing. I also know in a few cases how classy the publisher and its published editors are. But I do still wonder if there’s a conflict of interest nestled in that relationship between the author-editor and the publisher.

Entangled does publish stories submitted by a few of its own employees. Our editors, publicists, lawyers, financial gurus, etc. go through the same submissions process and receive the same consideration the droves of unagented and agented authors do. First and foremost, we want to produce marketable and high-quality stories. Nobody in the submissions pile is a precious snowflake.

Even though I believe there is no conflict of interest at Entangled, between the ethics of those who acquire, the emphasis on quality, and the stake each person in the publishing process has in each story, I’m uncertain whether I should pursue publication here. It’ll take a while before I figure it out, but in the meantime, I know one thing for sure: I’m not yet a good enough writer to publish at Entangled, so I have time before I have to make that decision.

What does Loose Id publish?
Loose Id publishes erotic romance that pushes the boundaries to unleash our readers’ innermost fantasies. We look for love, romance, and hot sex between any pairing: m/m, m/f, menage, f/f, or any combination. For specifics, check out our submission guidelines at: http://www.loose-id.com/submissions.aspx

What do you acquire?
I work with authors who write various genres and pairings. I have no bias because I feel that a good story is a good story and hot sex is hot sex. If asked to choose, I would say I favor epic fantasy and SF because of the intricate world-building, moral dilemmas, and high level of peril. Overall, I prefer character-driven tales where the heroines and heroes move and shape their worlds, where the risks are high, and the characters grow–both as individuals and as a romantic unit. I enjoy strong female characters of any sexual orientation. As a rule, I pass on stories where rape is presented solely as a means to torture a character.

What makes you want to cut a bitch when you see it in a submission?
To be honest, submitting your work is never easy. I’m an author as well as an editor, so I sympathize with how hard it is for a writer to put their beloved work into the hands of a stranger. That being said, the submission process is a necessary part of publishing and the business of writing, so it behooves a writer to learn the ins and outs. With the vast amount of reliable information on the Internet, there’s really no excuse for a writer to be in the dark. Identify the successful writers, check out their blogs, follow them on Twitter, and put your social networking skills to use for your writing career. That being said, like most editors I find there are some things that raise warning signs that the author may be an amateur. First, let me qualify that statement by saying there’s a difference between being a first-time author and being an amateur. A first-time author is one who takes the time to learn the process, submits appropriately, and presents herself as a professional, but hasn’t been published yet. An amateur is someone who doesn’t learn and/or follow the proper submission process, who blames the editor or the “publishing world” for their own ineptitude, and who refuses to learn from her mistakes. Here are some of the hallmarks of an amateur.

1. They didn’t follow the submission guidelines. This is the biggest offense, in my humble opinion, because there’s no need for this kind of mistake. Every house that accepts submissions will have a guidelines page. Follow it! Your willingness to adhere to the guidelines shows 1. You can follow directions and 2. You are serious about your work and the time the house will spend developing it.
2. The synopsis is longer than the partial. Unless otherwise indicated in the submission guidelines, your synopsis should be one page, maybe two if direst need prevails. Stick to the main facts and main plot. Who are these interesting characters? What trouble do they get into? How is it resolved? My favorite reference book on this subject is Pamela McCutcheon’s Writing the Fiction Synopsis.
3. The cover letter tells me what I should think/feel about the submission, or worse, rates the sensuality level of the story. Have you ever had a friend who sits next to you in the movie theatre and tells you everything that’s about to happen and what you should think about it? Annoying, isn’t it? Also in this category is mentioning what your mom, dad, girlfriend, and/or beta readers thought about your story. Without sounding too snarky, the editor is perfectly capable of forming her own opinions, thankyouverymuch.
4. Grammar and spelling errors abound, especially ones that Word. Has. Already. Flagged. Everyone misses a word here or there. That’s not a big deal. That’s why we have content editors, line editors, and proofers. But when it becomes obvious that the author made no attempt at spellcheck and did not heed the magical green line in Word that tells you what is wrong…yeah, that just hurts my brain. It’s like wearing a chum suit in shark-infested waters.
5. The email address is something like: sexxybunny69@gmail.com. This is a minor peeve but worth mentioning since I’ve seen it a lot lately. Email addresses like this are fine for casual use, but for professional purposes you should use some form of your name or pseudonym. Think of it as 1. a way to show you’re serious about writing as a business and 2. another way to get your name in front of the editor/publisher. Repetition is key. When editors start seeing your name on well-written submissions, they’ll remember.

What book do you constantly buy new copies of because you use it to proselytize the genre to newcomers? And they never give it back. Even when you threaten them.
The Silmarillion. I’m not sure if they keep it because they have read it or because they haven’t!

Favorite song to edit by.
White Rabbit by Emiliana Torrini

Favorite outfit to wear to fight club and/or while editing.
My tailor-made Babydoll replica costume, Colt M911A1 and katana included. Yes, in fact, I do bring a knife to a gunfight.

Favorite movie.
Sucker Punch

What social issue compels you?
I find privilege of any kind to be both insidious and infuriating. It’s so hard to identify, yet so easy to fall prey to.

Your favorite recipe (preferably for an alcoholic beverage, but we’ll accept cupcakes if that’s how you roll)?
Oh, Midori Sour, how do I love thee?

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add the midori, sour mix and sprite, give a quick stir, and add cherries.

Where do you plan to hole up when the zombie apocalypse comes?
I can’t tell you that in case your brain gets eaten and the zombie horde assimilates your thoughts and memories.

Machete or flamethrower?
Machete. I prefer weapons with only one working part.

It’s badass smackdown! Who wins and why? 

1. Buffy Summers vs Rachel Morgan. Buffy. Originally played by Kristy Swanson, she delivered the best retort ever, after chopping off her vampire adversary’s arm: Vampire: “We’re immortal, Buffy, we can do anything.” Buffy: “Oh, yeah? Clap.”
2. Robert Heinlein vs Orson Scott Card. Heinlein. His number’s in the phone book.
3. Edward Cullen vs Buffy–Buffy. She’s immune to smoldering eyes.
4. Snape vs Spike–Snape. He’s Alan Rickman, second only to Chuck Norris in badassery.
5. Chess Putnam vs Mackayla Lane–ummm, who?

Thanks!

Thank you, Kiersten!

You can see Kiersten in her role as writer in the lesbian vampire anthology Women of the Bite.

What does Entangled primarily publish?

Entangled Publishing is a boutique publisher of romantic fiction for adults and teens.

What do you acquire?

I’m acquiring works for adults and young adults. I have a serious weakness for a fantastic voice, quirky characters, and high concept plots. Send me your sci-fi, urban fantasy, contemporary romance, women’s fiction with a strong romantic element, suspense, and mysteries. Anything that can make me laugh is great, and strong heroines are a must.

What would you give your firstborn to find in your editor inbox?

Oooh! Asking the tough questions, I see! Well, because I haven’t seen anything like this come my way yet, I’m going to have to ask for something along the lines of TRON, Transformers, or The Terminator. Give me a high-tech adventure, complete with geektastic heroes and heroines, electronic super-baddies, motherboards, and lasers. *fans self*

What makes you want to cut a bitch when you see it in a submission?

A book with zero conflict…or worse, contrived conflict.

What book do you constantly buy new copies of because you use it to proselytize the genre to newcomers? And they never give it back. Even when you threaten them.

Even though I do have a wicked front snap kick, Karen Marie Moning is the absolute shiz, so I should just get over it, right? She has a voice that makes demons weep, humor that makes me all endorphin-y for weeks, morally ambiguous characters I’d gladly sell my soul to (helloooo, Adam Black!), and her romance is top notch. Buy her books. Study them. Sweet dreams are made of this, people! A close second? Julie Garwood’s historicals. I’ve worn all of her books out, I’ve read them so much. They’re things of beauty.

Favorite song to edit by.

I can never pick just one! Soundtracks are my thing, and I’m all about matching the music to the book so I get the full method editing experience. I’ve got Harry Potter, TRON, Transformers, Last of the Mohicans, Pirates of the Caribbean, and it’s not really a soundtrack, but Rodriguo y Gabriela. The exception is Britney Spears. I edited Patricia Eimer’s Luck of the Devil to Britney, and it turns out Patricia wrote quite a bit of that book listening to her, too. Freaky.

Favorite outfit to wear to fight club and/or while editing.

Kevlar, leather, and anything with reinforced seams (which is actually code for sweaters, flannel, and fuzzy socks).

Favorite movie.

I am such a Transformers geek it’s not even funny. But Bridesmaids (and anything Judd Apatow has made) and Thor are way high up there, too.

What social issue compels you?

Bullying. It seriously just breaks my heart, whether it’s a kid or an adult who’s on the receiving end.

Your favorite recipe (preferably for an alcoholic beverage, but we’ll accept cupcakes if that’s how you roll)?

I brew my own beer, but let’s keep it simple. I love cherry bourbon. It’s lovely on the rocks with Pepsi. I even mix it with brown sugar and use it to baste my Thanksgiving turkey (bonus: shingle your turkey with thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon and you have the best dang thing since cream cheese, my friends).

Where do you plan to hole up when the zombie apocalypse comes?

Hole up? I don’t need to stinking holes! I’m taking those b@stards down!

Machete or flamethrower?

I’m a Leo, so I’m going to have to go with the flamethrower.

It’s badass smackdown! Who wins and why?

• Buffy Summers vs Rachel Morgan: Buffy. She’s got the whole sneak attack thing down. You’d look at Rachel and expect bad things to happen, but Buffy? She’d take a bad guy down before he had a clue what was happening.
• Edward Cullen vs Buffy: Buffy would turn Edward to ashes before he could stop angsting over another pretty girl wanting to get close to him. Poor Edward.
• Snape vs Spike: Yeah, I’m going with Snape here. Spike has to bite you, but Snape could take you out merely by overpowering you with his awesomeness. I’m not exactly sure how strongly it radiates, but if I were Spike, I’d stay at least 50 feet away if I wanted to be safe.
• Chess Putnam vs Mackayla Lane: One can see dead people but the other can see way more…well, things. So I’m going to suggest they get together with Buffy and start some unholy trinity of smackdown power.
• Pick your own! Megatron vs. The Terminator (let’s go with the model in T2: Judgment Day). Discuss amongst yourselves.

Thanks so much for having me! Thanks for joining us, Libby! Have questions for the awesome Libby? She’ll be around today to answer whatever you bring. Interested in submitting your short works to her? Check out the submissions guidelines at Entangled, and if you think Libby’s the right editor for you, shoot your query letter to libby (at) entangledpublishing (dot) com.

Jon Robertson and Vegan Unplugged to the rescue!

Even if you’re not vegan, you need to be prepared to keep your gullet filled so you have enough energy to hack off zombies’ heads or at least explode their brains. And maybe, after a day of gore and urp, you’d rather avoid fleshy food options.

If the contents of the website are indicative of the book’s contents, I’m all over this. Check out the Ginger-Walnut Rum Balls! Holy YUM.

I’m taking inspiration from others and hope to have something to offer at least twice a week. Over the next week, I’m going to post a few real-life ghost stories. I might take photos of my cat because, well, there’s never enough kitteh on the interwebz. And I also want to cross-post some great interviews I’ll be tossing up to the Five Scribes blog where I, if I were a good blogger and deserved a cookie, would also keep up on my bi-weekly posts. Depending on interest, I could throw out experiences with my new job as associate editor at Entangled Publishing. Or I could post recipes of vegan and gluten-free noms that I think everyone should enjoy once in their lives.

For now, I’ve earned a crumb, and that’s good enough for me.

Dude. I’d buy a Subaru just because of this commercial. AWESOME.

Whoever created this genius is my new hero. Srsly.

h/t to Ann Kopchik for sharing it with me.